


The Eddies Which Affected History

by EmInArEvOl



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Everybody Lives, Fuuinjutsu Master Uzumaki Naruto, Gen, Minor Offensive Language, One Shot, Smart Uzumaki Naruto, hopefully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 15:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9079405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmInArEvOl/pseuds/EmInArEvOl
Summary: A cascade of events after Naruto starts his training trip with Jiraiya, unlocks a potential that had been left purposely neglected. And in turn, he who is named after the maelstrom of fate will send ripples of change to destiny, forever. Smarter! Naruto SealMaster! Naruto One Shot





	

**Author's Note:**

> General Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any inserted fandom, its characters or its licenses.
> 
> Author's Note: I'm not sorry for not being able to update my other fics I have been on a slump on them. I AM sorry for making my readers wait in agony for the updates.
> 
> Cross Posted from Fanfiction dot Net under the same username/author.

It is said that a single action can change the course of history. Such were the actions of the being known through legend as Usagi no Megami, Otsutsuki Kaguya. Such is also the actions of her son, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, known as the Rikudo Sennin, the progenitor of ninshu, the precursor to the modern ninjutsu. Actions made and reactions done; whether pre-ordained by fate or by the will of one’s own. It is a mystery unto itself that no one, not even those who claim to be enlightened can declare that which is true: Fate or Free Will?  
  
As it was likened to a bird trapped in a cage to never be set free, one can defy fate as a young Hyuuga prodigy finally understood after receiving the wisdom borne of another’s tireless fighting against his own so-called fate. Such it was that both boys bore the weight of seals, both of which caused pain almost unfathomable. And even when young Hyuuga Neji thought he was limited to his personal cage of fate, he had fought against fate and his cage. Young Uzumaki Naruto had done the same; except he always knew there was a way out of his cage.  
  
Whether it had been fate or the free will of one’s own, Uzumaki Naruto had struggled greatly against prejudiced hearts and minds. For which the shadows of a dying tree tried and tried to consume one innocent light; a light that desperately tried to outshine even the sun.  
  
In many a lifetime, the shadows win as the trees lives on but in rotten decay, shrouded in darkness and only the dying embers of a beautiful soul is left, slowly extinguished. At the same time, in more than a few instances that tiny light roars into a gigantic flame of light, nourishing the dying trees as it becomes a new sun. In the many, many lives that Uzumaki Naruto may have lived, surely a pebble cast into the right ripple would awash the world in a wave that would change the world.  
  
Such is that in this life, where those blinded by grief and prejudice sought to hold the demon at bay by making the child who holds it ignorant and illiterate. And so, the pebble to change the flow of the tide called destiny, has finally been cast.

* * *

 

Days into their training trip, Jiraiya regretted not evaluating his newest apprentice sooner. Sure, he had religiously followed the progress reports that the late Sandaime Hokage received and sent on his way. Being Naruto’s godfather, he’d always been updated with his records, be it his academy records, his hospital records and even his village records; including his near infamy as a prankster. Before, Jiraiya had been somewhat disappointed that a son of the touted genius Namikaze Minato and the powerful Uzumaki Kushina could do so badly at school. Though, it greatly relieved the Legendary Sannin to learn that Naruto was prone to skipping class and performing pranks around the village. Admittedly, the pranks that Naruto had committed were rather ingenious, if Jiraiya could say so himself.  
  
Konohagakure no Sato boasted being able to produce rather powerful shinobi, no matter the rank. True, that Konoha had less active shinobi than the rest of the Five Great Villages, but quality beat out quantity, it seems as Konoha won or at least came out on top on the last three wars. With that being said, even with Naruto being only an Academy student; he had been able to prank some of the Village’s finest, the ANBU. Never mind the everyday pranks the blond jinchuuriki played on the general populace of Konoha. The blond Uzumaki had been known to set up elaborate pranks that had Chuunin, Jounin and ANBU chasing a pre-genin who was known as the dead-last of his class.  
  
At that time, Jiraiya thought that maybe Naruto could not focus on the theoretical work, as well as the information overload that the Academy seems to favor; that maybe Naruto needed a more hands-on approach rather than hitting the books. So when he took the brat to train for that month before the finals of the Chuunin examination, Jiraiya didn’t bother trying to goad Naruto to learn Fuinjutsu. Jiraiya knew, almost instinctively, that Naruto would do great in Fuinjutsu, even if his Academy work spoke otherwise. Not that the Academy covered Fuinjutsu beyond explaining how to use storage scrolls and exploding tags. Instead, Jiraiya started Naruto on learning one of his father’s legacies, the Toad Summoning. Let it be said that it may be Jiraiya who is known as the Toad Sage but Minato also achieved the same title but never had the chance to use it in battle nor did he make it known. Also, the fact was that Minato became the Principal Summoner of the Toads before he took the Hokage Mantle.  
  
Now, Jiraiya held onto the Summoning Scroll as he was the last contracted living summoner, before Naruto signed the contract, but he didn’t hold the title of principal toad summoner. The reason is, while he got along great with majority of the summoned toads; his friendship with Gamabunta, the boss of the toads, was superficial at best. Yes, the toads will always aid Jiraiya but he doesn’t hold the same loyalty that Minato held with the toads of Myobokuzan. Thus, while he is still the Gallant Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage, he was hoping that Naruto inherits the summoning contract of the toads and become their new principal summoner.  
  
Focusing mainly on chakra control, a bit of physical exercise and the toad summoning, Jiraiya didn’t have time to contemplate on his student’s apparent lack of aptitude to the more theoretical aspects of being a shinobi. But even then, he had already planned on taking Naruto on their 3 Year training trip. The threat of the Akatsuki, though at that time wasn’t a constant variable in Naruto’s everyday life, did exist at that point. Jiraiya may be called a fool by many of his peers but he was a shinobi of great skill and a master battler.  
  
Then also came the time they went and retrieved Tsunade, his other lost teammate; the favored kunoichi candidate to take up the mantle of Godaime Hokage. At that time, Jiraiya had started training Naruto in one of his father’s famed for techniques: the Rasengan. The Rasengan was known as the greatest pure chakra shape manipulation technique. Whereas other techniques relied on elements to give shape to the jutsu or is harnessed internally by the user; the Rasengan made chakra visible, tangible and most importantly, destructive. It took Minato three years to create the jutsu. It took Jiraiya and Minato one year to deconstruct the technique and for the Sannin to master it. It took Hatake Kakashi, a shinobi genius, three months to master it.  
  
Naruto took a week and a half to complete the jutsu; without the Kage Bunshin as a training aide. Yes, he still needed at least one Kage Bunshin to complete the jutsu, but that was more than what most could achieve. Jiraiya believed that focused training with his student; he could bring out Naruto’s untapped potential. Genetically speaking, Naruto was a pedigreed genius. There was no denying that, if focused properly, Naruto’s general intensity on life and training wields spectacular results. And if Naruto was a Kinetic learner, Jiraiya had ways to teach his newest blond student.  
  
So, when the time came that Jiraiya and Naruto set out for their training trip; it floored Jiraiya on the blatant maltreatment that the villagers did to Naruto. The boy who was supposed to be treated as a hero, who was their everyday savior from utter destruction from a raging Bijuu; suffered greatly under their ignorance from the very people he saved every day. Such injustice broke the old Sannin’s heart. How could his beloved village do this to the boy?  
  
And the thing that brought Jiraiya’s attention to Naruto’s illiteracy?  
  
Ramen.  
  
Fucking. Ramen.  
  
Having treated the boy to Ichiraku Ramen so many times, Jiraiya was used to the teen’s obsession with the, admittedly delicious, noodle soup. So, once they hit the first town in their training journey, Jiraiya decided to bring the boy to the local ramen shop. Their menu, as tradition, were placards hanging from nails on the walls. Signs were everywhere of what flavors were new and what they were famous for. A cardboard menu was also handed to them to read through for the ramen shop’s complete menu, with foodstuff aside from only ramen.  
  
The first sign of trouble showed up when Naruto had scrunched up his face while looking through the menu. The second sign was Naruto’s question.  
  
“Nah, Ero-sennin! Can’t we just get ramen? I don’t like fancy stuff!”  
  
Jiraiya had to pause in his own menu-browsing and had to stare at his newest student. Hadn’t the boy seen that this was a ramen shop? The tacked up food items almost everywhere said ramen! Deciding that Naruto was pulling his leg, Jiraiya sighed in exasperation. “Brat, it’s a ramen shop! Can’t you see the menu?” Jiraiya pointed to the menu on hand and the various postings around them.  
  
Naruto’s eyes darkened noticeably for a few seconds before it seemingly vanished under his usual bright eyes; eyes which now Jiraiya felt were incredibly faked. Unbidden, a sudden chill of fear went down Jiraiya’s spine. ‘Something isn’t right.’ was the thought of the famed Icha Icha Author.  
  
Looking carefully, even as Naruto seemingly scanned the menu both on hand and around them; Jiraiya saw not an ounce of comprehension. It was like Naruto was looking at a puzzle that he’d long given up on but kept trying to solve.  
  
Everything was written in words and no visuals were given; no pictures anywhere.  
  
Jiraiya felt his eyes widen in understanding; his heart clenching in fear.  
  
But denial raced through the Toad Sannin’s mind as he fiercely stomped down on the urge to jump into conclusions.  
  
Because no matter his reputation as a Master Battler; Jiraiya was a writer and a teacher. Let it be said that Jiraiya took teaching seriously, no matter how goofy or insane his methods were. So, slowly, Jiraiya reached out and carefully pushed down the menu that Naruto was blindingly reading.  
  
Pointing to Naruto’s favorite flavor of Miso Soup Based Pork Ramen, Jiraiya gently asked, “Naruto, can you read this for me?”  
  
And the most heart-wrenching sight greeted Jiraiya as the boy’s expression crumbled and his normally bright blue eyes (lies, lies, has it always been a lie?) darkened as if a great storm was passing through those sky blue eyes. Naruto’s fists were clenched tightly on top of the table as he resolutely tried to not look at his sensei’s eyes. Jiraiya felt his heart break for his poor godson. How could this have happened? The boy went through the academy! And yes, he passed it through unconventional means; but it just cannot be that the boy couldn’t even read! He’d seen the boy write out his own name in the summoning contract!  
  
And that gave him pause. The name on the summoning contract; Jiraiya had remembered, was written so poorly that Jiraiya had a hard time deciphering it. Though Jiraiya did understand that the boy wrote his name in katakana; which, at that time, Jiraiya dismissed as Naruto being careful in the wording of his name. But now, Jiraiya thought that maybe the boy never knew better. That the boy could barely write his name would also, probably, not pass any theoretical exams that he had to go through at the academy. In the back of the Toad Sennin’s mind, it would have been forgivable and hilarious if the boy thought that his name was fish cake; instead of the powerful name of maelstrom that which his least successful book was the protagonist of. Minato and Kushina loved his first foray into the world of literature, The Tales of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja, and thusly named their son, Naruto.  
  
The couple once told him that even if Jiraiya, as a person, was the utter (hilarious and perverted) embarrassment that he was; had been the inspiration for the pair to become the shinobi and kunoichi they became. Because, while they knew that the hero of the book, Naruto, was the epitome of what a shinobi should be; Jiraiya embodied those ideals first before he wrote it down. Because Jiraiya was the protagonist needed in any heroic adventure and his main character did that for the Toad Sage.  
  
And with this thought, Jiraiya felt the grasping hands of despair claw at his heart. Not even his beloved sensei’s death had brought forth such easy tears to the Sannin’s eyes. Tremulously, he pulled one of the boy’s hands to rest on top of the menu, which was set down. Guiding Naruto’s forefinger across the menu item, he read it carefully to the boy.  
  
Naruto’s eyes widened as he felt tears pool in his eyes as he connected the strange gibberish in front of him to the words he knew intimately.  
  
“Braised Pork Miso Ramen.” The old pervert slowly pointed out each word and made sure to enunciate. And if Jiraiya had to repeat it a few times, he didn’t mind. It eased the overwhelming sense of guilt in him. Teaching the boy to read and write had been his duty when the boy was still young. Putting more importance to his work and village; he sacrificed not only the joy of teaching his godson but also his godson’s own future.  
  
He had to make it right.

* * *

 

Jiraiya didn’t hesitate and the duo made way into Cha no Kuni where Jiraiya owned a hidden and private estate, gifted to him in secret by the lady daimyo of the land. The estate was quite removed from the nearest city; one would need to travel out of their way to reach the estate. Jiraiya had a family of care takers tend to the home; he would only visit the estate when he needed to remove himself from the world. It was his sanctuary against the cycle of hatred.  
  
Once they’ve settled there, Jiraiya set up a routine with the kindly grandmother of the family, a retired kunoichi, who took care of his home away from home. Once a governess of a now extinct noble line, the lady was to build up Naruto’s primary education and develop his calligraphy skills. Usually, Jiraiya’s spy network needed his personal appearance for his informants to give the information; but since he is, currently, the only known toad summoner, bar Naruto, he could use his toads to get the information for him; so he could concentrate on training Naruto.  
  
Sitting down in the tea room with Naruto, they discussed Jiraiya’s proposed schedule for the young Jinchuuriki.  
  
“Every day, you will send 50 clones with Koyuki-sama and she will catch you up on your primary education. You’ll start off with reading and writing exercises; once you’re up to par with the average genin, she’ll start you on calligraphy and have you read up on various subject matters related to being a shinobi as well. This will include history, politics, economics, etiquette, and many more.” At this Jiraiya was interrupted by Naruto.  
  
“WHAT?! But ero-sennin! I don’t need to learn that stuff! I just need to be an awesome ninja so that I can be Hokage! You gotta train me with awesome jutsu and stuff!” And while Naruto’s outburst was cute, in an overly eager fresh genin sort-of-way; it just reminded Jiraiya that he needed to drill the importance of those subjects to Naruto.  
  
“Naruto, you need to listen to me carefully.” Jiraiya set down his tea cup, serious eyes stared at Naruto. “While I believe that you have the capability to be the greatest damn Hokage of all time, you need to learn this stuff. Trust me, being the student of the Sandaime, sensei of the Yondaime and the former teammate of the Godaime; I know all about being Hokage. And it’s not a walk in the park, nor is it about being all-powerful and being able to do a lot of kick-ass jutsu.”  
  
Taking a small sip of his rapidly cooling tea, he sighed as he composed his thoughts on what he would say next. “While it is important to be an extremely capable and powerful shinobi to even think of becoming Hokage, that’s not all there is to it! Being a Kage, you’re tasked with the running of a military village answering directly to the Daimyo of the land. A Kage not only handles matter concerning his shinobi such are the missions that the village receives as well as the safety of the village but also all major sectors of the administration of a normal village.” The old sannin had to rub at his temples just thinking about the responsibilities that he’d seen his sensei and student go through with every day village affairs. “This roughly includes education, for both shinobi and civilian, businesses and their owners, dealing with delegates from all over, all shinobi-related operations, and even the sanitation, engineering and maintenance of the village itself.”  
  
Jiraiya slouched in his zabuton as he nursed the hot cup of tea in his hand. “While a Kage has absolute control over his village, an uncontested dictatorship, it doesn’t mean that they can go willy-nilly on those important decisions that affect the safety and progress of the village. Just because a Kage has absolute power in a village does not mean that you can just order anyone to do anything. That’s abuse of power and your village. Kid, you have to listen to me. You’ve got a ton of things to learn for you to even be considered as a Kage”  
  
Throughout all of Jiraiya’s rather impassioned speech, even if he didn’t move much from his position while drinking his tea, Naruto sat there listening attentively. Most people would just rather dismiss his dreams and not give any advice on how to achieve his goal. Being dismissed for majority of his life, it makes it difficult for him to listen to people; when he’s been systematically ignored by those that should’ve paid him attention.  
  
But because Jiraiya listened without him needing to say a word, he was willing to listen to the old super pervert. Upon seeing that Naruto was actually listening to him lecture about how to become Hokage, basically, he gave a grin to his student.  
  
“That is to say, just catching up and reading up on those subjects will be the focus of your training while we’re here, is utterly wrong. While those clones of yours study with Koyuki-sama, you will come with me to the training grounds in the estate. Depending on how much you’ve been sabotaged by your academy teachers, we may have to overhaul your entire fighting style.” Growling lowly in his throat, Jiraiya thought back to the rather wild fighting style his student had shown. He should’ve noticed immediately it wasn’t sloppy taijutsu, rather it was rather suicidal taijutsu kata; meant to kill the practitioner. Barely containing his anger he continued, “Yes, overwhelming your enemies with a barrage of Kage Bunshin and Rasengan may sound effective right now, but truly powerful shinobi would find such fights below their notice and could easily defeat you.”  
  
Naruto stared at his lap, where he folded both of his hands while listening to Jiraiya. Even he knew it was stupid, that’s why he kept asking people to give him jutsu so that he could probably compensate for the lack of strategy and versatility that happens in his fights. Naruto understands the value of a good distraction; it might not be obvious but he’s always been really good at stealth. After all, he’s managed to prank the black-ops elites of the village without being detected while setting up a prank, not even once.  
  
And they say orange was the worse color for stealth. He’d always worn his orange jacket on all his pranks.  
  
And as good as Kage Bunshin is for distractions as well as his aid for forming his one attack type jutsu, it’s not the best technique for aggressive combat. This reminded him…  
  
“Ero-sennin, why do you act as if using Kage Bunshin will help when they’re the ones who are learning?” Naruto asked his sensei, cutely. Well, at least to Jiraiya, Naruto was being cute; tilting his head to the side like that. The old pervert had to grumble to himself, ‘Of all things to inherit from Minato, it’s that damn head-tilt!’’  
  
“That’s right you can’t really read… So, how did you even know how to perform Kage Bunshin?” Jiraiya asked his student, wondering if maybe there was more to his student’s genin graduation than was reported.  
  
“Well, I actually recognize the kanji for ‘Kage’ and ‘Bunshin’. I also know how to read and write the names of the hand signs, even if I get them wrong at times, that and my weaving is slow.” Naruto shrugged nonchalantly.  
  
Jiraiya nodded in understanding. “Alright. Now, to answer your question. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, as you know creates a solid clone and is considered a B-Rank Kinjutsu because of not only the chakra usage but also the mental backlash afterwards. Kage Bunshin divides your chakra equally to your clones and people with low chakra capacities have died when using the jutsu stupidly. You’re probably one of the very few people that can summon more than 30 Kage Bunshin clones at the same time. Not even mentioning the amount that you can produce them at, thus bumping up to A-Rank at the sheer insane amount of chakra needed to power that jutsu. If you manage to learn other attack type jutsu and combine it with your Kage Bunshin, it could easily bump up to S-Rank. Your academy sensei, Umino, told the Sandaime you probably created almost a thousand clones to beat up Mizuki.” At this Jiraiya had to chuckle to himself. “A bit of overkill, if you ask me.” Naruto had giggled (‘Giggled?!’ Jiraiya’s mental scream resounded. ‘Damn you Minato, and your apparent strong mental genes!) with Jiraiya, agreeing that he thought he had gone overboard as well.  
  
“Secondly, the mental backlash of the jutsu. Whatever your clones learn, you learn too. Their memories are transferred to you once they’re dispelled. That’s the reason why Kage Bunshin is mostly a recon jutsu, not a battle jutsu.” Jiraiya paused as he observed his student bounce on the balls of his feet.  
  
“Don’t get too excited, Naruto. This doesn’t mean that you can make your clones do all your training for you. It just means that mental aspects of your training and learning can be done by them. That’s why we’ll have them with Koyuki-sama. You will also be practicing your chakra control using your Kage Bunshin, since chakra control is purely mental. The same goes with your taijutsu kata. Frankly, from what I’ve seen what you pass off as your taijutsu; I’d say that your academy sensei set you up for suicide.” Jiraiya’s hands visibly clenched around the teacup, but he relaxed it immediately, not wanting to break the cup. Naruto smiled a bit sadly, as he knew all along.  
  
“Now since katas are the mental aspect of taijutsu, being part of memory, you can leave learning and practicing any jutsu to them as well. But what you cannot train using your Kage Bunshin is your body itself. You’re going to have to condition yourself so that you can actually match up your mental and physical progress. Chakra is a combination of physical and mental energy, have too much of one and you’ll be having a lot of trouble. In time, we’ll be powering up your physical abilities and your chakra capacity. You roughly have five times a Kage’s reserves but you’re not done growing just yet. We’ll be upping your power until your coils mature at 15.” Jiraiya grinned along his student at the prospect of being stronger.

* * *

 

It was two months after they started Naruto on his training in the estate that Koyuki approached the Gama Sannin. Jiraiya was busy in his study, writing down his next book; there was inspiration to be gotten from the boy (the fact that a popular bathing spot for young girls was just outside the estate and is easily accessible helped out a lot).  
  
Seeing his old friend come in his study he put down his writing utensils. Naruto was being told to meditate for now; to let his mind and body catch up on the training he’d been receiving. Koyuki took a seat in front of Jiraiya and was quiet for a moment, trying to compose her thoughts.  
  
“Jiraiya, we’ve been friends for a long time. But tell me this, how can Konoha do this to the boy?” Koyuki’s voice belied a cold fury, something that came from a mother’s bleeding heart. Jiraiya took a deep breath; he had been dreading this conversation,  
  
“Explain please, my old friend.”  
  
“That boy… That boy is so brilliantly smart, that I cannot fathom that he has only started to learn to read and write. Jiraiya, he’s blazed through those basic lessons, I’m already having him reading modern rhetoric and he’s just consuming them by the pound.” The old governess clenched her fists in anger. ”He’s so thirsty for knowledge, Jiraiya. It’s only been two months but we’re already half-way finished on current events! He’s been scouring all the updated bingo books we have and he’s retaining that knowledge like its simple nursery rhymes. His learning curve is so high, there’s simply no comparison. If the boy was properly educated from the start, he could have surpassed those so-called prodigies your village produced! The likes of which that those like Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi can’t even compare to!” The old woman was breathing heavily as she slowly raised her voice until she was nearly shouting, her anger palpable in the bright red flush on her face.  
  
Jiraiya had to look out his window and stare at his newest student, meditating steadily in the Zen Garden. “I know this intimately well, Koyuki-chan. I know.” Passing his hand over his face, he let out a frustrated noise. “That boy should’ve been the crown jewel of Konoha. It’s greatest and most respected guardian. But the villagers have been blinded by their grief; but the boy and I, we don't blame them." Taking up his writing tools once more, he took out a fresh notebook and started writing. "We all hold a responsibility in this world, my friend. Whether we continue the cycle of hatred or be that one person needed to finally cull it."  
  
Within that one year retreat from majority of the world, Naruto caught up and surpassed all expectations.  
  
Naruto had flourished under the right guidance. The boy caught up to his peers quickly and seemingly surpassed them in battle prowess even faster. While no master strategist, Naruto thrived under pressure and made incredible on-the-spot battle tactics. Jiraiya was right; the boy took to sealing like fish to water. Currently, he was considered a high-adept and on the cusp for the testing for sealmaster title.  
  
But Jiraiya could not stay away from the public at large anymore. Being a powerful ninja and a well-loved author, he was an extremely public figure, known to travel the elemental nations frequently. Staying away for so long puts a strain on public relations with Konoha and the other shinobi villages. Jiraiya had to continue his duties as Konoha’s spymaster, the Icha Icha series author, and super pervert. (And yes, he considers being a super pervert his duty, if only third in his list.)

* * *

 

Jiraiya had one day called Naruto into the tea room; they had to talk about the next step to his training.  
  
“Naruto, as you know, I am Konohagakure’s spymaster. I’ve put on hold on giving personal appearances to my contacts for the past year to focus on your training; but this cannot continue.” Jiraiya sat seiza on a simple zabuton, same as Naruto. In the time that they’ve been training, this one year, Naruto had learned to be still as was the practice in meditating for hours on end.  
  
“I need to go out and travel the elemental nations again, but doing this may be detrimental to your training. I’ve promised to make you strong enough to bring your friend back from Orochimaru as well as being strong enough to fight against the Akatsuki. And while I don’t think you’re at the level yet to safely get away from the Akatsuki without heavy losses on yourself, I think I’ve provided you with enough training that you can continue on your own and surpass all expectations.” Naruto sat there quietly, taking in his master’s words.  
  
Jiraiya sighed; it was as if the years were finally catching up to his old age. “Naruto, we are at a point that I cannot train you more and expect you to walk your own path. I’ve provided you with the tools and basics so that you may become your own shinobi. This is what was done to me by Sarutobi-sensei, it is what I’ve done with your father and this is what I expect of you. You’ve accomplished more in a year than most do in a lifetime. I cannot be prouder than I am now.”  
  
And it was true, Naruto had improved on the Rasengan to the point, it was he who had to teach Jiraiya the next steps while aided by Sage Mode. “You have to understand, that all that I can teach you next are just jutsu. In this, I’ve failed you.”  
  
Naruto startled and had to raise himself to a kneeling position to voice his disagreement. “Jiraiya-kyofu! Don’t say that! You’ve taught me so much! I wouldn’t know what to do or what to learn if it wasn’t for your guidance!” Jiraiya raised his hand to stop his godson from continuing. “And that is why I failed you, Naruto. I should’ve taught you all this as you were growing up. I should’ve been there for you in Konoha while you were a child. Teaching you to read and write like any child deserved. I should’ve been there for you on your first day at the Academy. Training you as your parents would’ve wanted me to. But I wasn’t. That’s why I’m trying to catch up all those years of neglect that I’ve placed upon you.”  
  
Naruto seemed to wilt in deep seated sorrow. He understood what his godfather was saying. Those times that he should’ve have had a parent or a guardian but instead he was left to his own devices; kept illiterate and ignorant until he graduated on a fluke. Sometimes, he resented everyone in Konoha with every fiber of his being but he understood and forgave them long ago.  
  
Because when he thought to hate everyone, just like Gaara had done; to prove his existence with violence and rage, the Sandaime made him feel like the innocent child he had been. Because when all the stores would sell him rotten or bad food, when he would always get kicked out of stores even when he had money, when he became so starved that his only option was eating garbage; the Ichiraku’s were there for him, giving him food even if it meant that they lose money for it. Because when he finally knew that he housed the demon, when he learned that the thing he holds back killed his beloved teacher’s parents, when he felt like he deserved to be hated and shunned; Umino Iruka said he was an excellent student and a proud shinobi of Konoha. It was because he was acknowledged by the Sandaime as the child he was. It was because the Ichiraku’s acknowledged the human he was. It was because Iruka-sensei acknowledged that he was Uzumaki Naruto; that he just can’t resent the rest of the world.  
  
Iruka-sensei might have never noticed that Naruto was being held back by the village; being illiterate, ignorant and uneducated, no matter if he did attend the Shinobi Academy, Iruka acknowledged him. Him, Uzumaki Naruto, and not the demon-brat.  
  
“Jiraiya-kyofu. It’s ok. I understand. But please, also understand that you didn’t fail me. The village was so hurt and afraid by such a large loss of life and property; most having never understood how to differentiate the sealing scroll from the kunai that is sealed within. And it’s fine. I understand that you regret that you hadn’t been there for me before, but you’re here for me now. Whatever the village tried to destroy by making me ignorant, you’ve made up for it by teaching me; guiding me to be the person, the shinobi that I dream to be. Jiraiya, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me so far. Yes, you were remiss with your duty as my godfather to care for me in place of my parents when I was young; but its ok now. You’re making up for it now.”  
  
Jiraiya smiled tremulously at his godson. “It helps but it doesn’t absolve my guilt; at least, not yet. But once you’ve surpassed me and that would be when it will absolve me of my sins to you.”  
  
Naruto just sighed at his master, he felt as if Jiraiya was unfairly punishing himself. Jiraiya straightened up and drank his tea to calm himself down.  
  
"You have two choices for your training the next two years, Naruto. One, you come with me as I travel the Elemental Nations. While I do my duties as spymaster, I'll continue your lessons; then, hopefully, we'll return in, more or less, 2 years. In my eyes, this is a waste of our time." Jiraiya reached for a package beside him and placed it on the table, pushing it to Naruto.  
  
"I had not informed you but in the time you've stayed in the estate; I've recorded all the chores you've done as D rank missions. Also, as you remember, we've taken down some of the bandit problems in the nearby cities. The city councils have agreed to have it recorded as C ranked missions with Konoha. Those times you've encountered nuke-nin as well as that mission where you've saved that noble family had been counted as B and A ranked missions. In short, you've furthered your shinobi career while training. Konoha's shinobi council had decided to award you with a field promotion to Chuunin. Inside that package is your vest, information packets concerning your duties as a Chuunin, as well as standard technique scrolls accessible to all Konoha Chuunin.; techniques like the Leaf Sunshin, Kage Kunai no jutsu, and beginning to intermediate sealing books. Now, I've removed all except your Chuunin vest and information packet and am replacing them with something more special."  
  
Jiraiya placed a well-worn notebook and an old-looking but well cared for scroll. "The scroll contains the original jutsu formula for the Nidaime Hokage's Hiraishin. Yes, that’s the jutsu that made your father famous giving him the title as the Yellow Flash and the Butcher of Iwa." Naruto looked at the scroll and took a deep breath. “And the notebook?" Naruto asked, his heart beating loudly.  
  
"Your father's jutsu notes while he improved and rewrote the original formula." With shaking hands, Naruto reached out to the the items in front of him. "Arigato, Jiraiya-sensei. I… I'll master this jutsu."  
  
"The moment you wear your chuunin vest, you've been given more responsibility and more leeway. As genin, senior shinobi are tasked to always look out for their kohai. Genin are the potential of the village as well as the greatest of liabilities, so they are carefully monitored. By becoming chuunin, you are now given certain privileges. One of the most important is the ability to travel without supervision in the pretense of a training trip or leave. This is your other choice. I can provide you with a veritable library of knowledge in your personal scroll of seals. We'll be parting ways, temporarily, as you travel your own way for training taking this with you.” Jiraiya pulled to him a much larger scroll, as large as the toad summoning contract and Konoha’s Scroll of Seals that Naruto once stole.  
  
“Preferably, you'll head to the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Kushina once told me that their jutsu library was intact but couldn't be transferred. Naruto, I want you to be able to take up your heritage as the last royal Uzumaki. The Uzumaki line is as old as or even older than the Senju and Uchiha; it is blasphemous that their knowledge would be lost to the ravages of time. Kushina told your father and me that she didn't have the time to learn all her clan's secrets. But you can, with steady meditation and a constant supply of Kage Bunshin; you'll be able to uncover it all. Alongside learning about your clan, you'll be able to learn their jutsu as well. Kushina told me that, using seals, they left memory imprints so as to teach their knowledge to future generations as a failsafe."  
  
Jiraiya took a few seconds to breath. Truthfully, he was excited for Naruto; this was one chance he could not pass up. Naruto could learn about his heritage and, possibly, get a huge power-up in the process. With his high learning curve, it wasn't impossible that the boy could easily surpass the old sannin in shinobi arts knowledge. He thinks, that when they finally meet up again, the only edge he would have over his apprentice is in just pure experience, something easily gained.  
  
"I'll do it, sensei." Naruto was determined to make his master proud.

* * *

 

So came the day that they would set off for their separate ways, one to continue his duties as spymaster of Konoha; the other to continue his training alone. But first they both traveled south until they reached the coast line. Jiraiya instructed Naruto to go to Wave Country as they still had boats that would regularly go to Uzushiogakure for the fishing grounds there when the whirlpools were calm. Before parting ways, Jiraiya handed Naruto a scroll, looking apprehensive.  
  
"Inside this scroll is the exam for fuinjutsu mastery. When you think you're ready, take the exam. All the instructions are inside that scroll. Good luck, kid."  
  
It took Naruto a few days of leisurely walking (read: jumping through the trees like the ninja he is), to get to Nami no Kuni. It’s been a year and some months since he’d been there. He was quite surprised and speechless seeing his name on the bridge.  
  
Naruto could only stare in almost utter disbelief that the bridge was named after him. It took his brain a minute or two to restart, because while he thought he did awesomely heroic things while on that disastrous C Rank, he didn’t think he’d deserve more than the pay he got for it; which was a lot considering it had a bump up in mission ranking. Naruto had to pick his jaw up from the ground and started walking again.  
  
After shaking off his surprise, he looked around in awe at the bridge. It was quite the feat of engineering, considering that the workers were all non-chakra users. If he hadn’t been there for the last legs of its construction, he wouldn’t have believed that non-chakra user civilians could build such a mighty structure. As it is, it seems that it was standing against the test of time and nature quite well, considering the sea water infused mist that seemed to permeate the country.  
  
Walking through the now restored country, he was happy to note that there were fewer beggars on the streets and practically no homeless children going around looking for a quick steal. Back when they first went to Nami no Kuni, there were so many homeless and starving kids living off of the streets; it had sent a sympathetic pang through his soul. Now, he sees that Nami had prospered without a tyrannical businessman’s chokehold on the country. It wasn’t hard to navigate through the small country and easily found Tazuna’s home with Inari, Tsunami and the old drunkard greeting him fondly.  
  
He didn’t stay long for his visit, never even mentioning to the civilian family on what happened to his team. At that point, Tazuna took Naruto to the port where the fishing boats that would sail for the waters surrounding Uzushiogakure were.  
  
“You sure about this, kid? The next time those tides and whirlpools die down will be in a month. You’ll be stuck on that island.” Thinking of Uzu, Tazuna shivered. “After the siege, I doubt that the dead were properly buried there. After all these years, you’ll probably see the bones of your dead relatives there, out in the sun.” Morbid thoughts, but true nonetheless.  
  
Naruto sighed sadly and shook his head. “Yeah, I’m sure old man. I’ve gotta do this.”  
  
And so Naruto set off from Nami before sunrise, reaching deceptively calm waters in hours. The fishermen cast anchor and dropped nets into the water to start their monthly fishing excursion on the sea near Uzu.  
  
Naruto jumped off the ship and waved good bye to the stunned fishermen as he ran off to the island dead ahead. Reaching shore, he saw the damage that the siege had done on the land still marring the landscape. A towering wall encircled the village, reminiscent of Konohagakure’s walls. The heavy gates were nowhere to be found, probably blasted to pieces back in the siege. The village itself was in surprisingly good conditions barring that most buildings looked as if the elements did a grudge match with the village. But the village was not as dilapidated as it could have been, as if ignoring the damage, it was preserved in time. The red and gold motif of the small citadel was still prevalent; considering the siege had happened almost 40 years ago.  
  
Coming to the town square, there was a gigantic fountain; it looked as if a giant statue of a bird of some sort once stood upon it, as if looking at the once great village.  
  
Keen eyes saw scripture lines run across the pavement, leading to the statue where a complex seal was exposed to the elements; it was noticeable that the embedded genjutsu and concealing elements of the seal were scratched off from the stone. Naruto traced his fingers across the complicated runes that ran across the seal. It was a space-time seal meant to preserve the city it seems, the lines of script lining the cobblestones, walkways and alleys winding the streets were the ‘veins’ of the seal, meant to connect it all to this singular seal. The seal prevents decay of the structures near it and stop corruption of materials through the passage of time. Hence, eternally standing buildings if not damaged by external forces; that’s why the city looked so well-preserved.  
  
Naruto sighed in wonder, looking at the masterpiece of Fuinjutsu in front of him. “The epitome of laziness! Such usage of Fuinjutsu; the contract of human and the universe and all the seal maker could think was preservation of buildings?!” Naruto’s voice took on an incredulous tone. He was in amazement of the complexity of the seal, yes. But that doesn’t mean that he didn’t feel exaggerated by his ancestors; using this hard-learned art to promote laziness in architecture. The people of Uzu never needed to make new buildings to replace old ones, because it never seemingly aged! The city immortalized in the same image forever.  
  
Shaking his head, Naruto muttered under his breath, “Shikamaru would just love this seal, wouldn’t he?”

* * *

 

_And somewhere in a certain barbecue place in Konoha, said lazy Chuunin felt his ears heat up before sneezing to the side. His team mates looked at him, amused._  
  
_“Well, looks like someone was talking about you, Shikamaru.” Asuma jested._  
  
_Ino chortled and rudely pointed her chopsticks at him. “Who would talk or even think about a lazy bum like you, huh?”_  
  
_Chouji just smiled at his team as he continued to eat his barbecue._  
  
_Shikamaru rolled his eyes and leaned on his hand on the table, muttering his infamous phrase, “Mendokuse.”_

* * *

 

Taking a rather gigantic leap, so that he could see the whole village up above, he felt that; maybe they were justified in wanting to keep it the same forever. There was an appealing aesthetic to the concentric circles of buildings around the town square (or rather circle really, what is with Uzushiogakure and round-shaped things, anyways?). The village was shaped in a spiral, an Uzumaki.  
  
Landing on his feet, he felt nostalgia with this village. As if his Uzumaki blood was saying, this was home.  
  
While up in the air, he saw the the largest structure in the village looking intact as if no battle ever touched its stones; this surprised the young Namikaze-Uzumaki. Sprinting across the rooftops, he stopped one building short of the large building. Naruto believed it to be the main administration building, beside it seems to be a broken school yard. The blonde had surveyed the structure in front of him, it was almost exactly like the Administration building and Ninja Academy in Konoha. He knew he found the place to start his research.

* * *

 

Time Skip to 6 months later

* * *

 

Jiraiya was currently in Tetsu no Kuni; he had a book signing event he’d attended a few days ago. Lord Mifune invited the old Sannin to stay for a while in their fortress city. Of course, his perverted tendencies were not tolerated… as long as he wasn’t caught, that is. There is something to be said of powerful men having their eccentricities and hobbies. Currently, Jiraiya was in his hotel room making notes and writing for his next novel; as well as his coded bi-monthly reports as is his duty as spymaster.  
  
He was about to summon one of the messenger toads before a poof of summoning smoke appeared before him. As a seasoned shinobi he didn’t jump in surprise as some rookies were won’t to do. Calmly waiting for the summoning smoke to disappear, he relaxed as he heard a croak come from it. Kōsuke, the messenger toad stared at the Frog Sannin.  
  
Jiraiya stared back at his friend. “Well? Why did you reverse summon yourself here?” The toad didn’t answer, instead handed over a normal sized scroll and dismissed himself. Jiraiya had to blink back the new summoning smoke and sighed, exasperated. This particular toad, while amiable to be a messenger; really doesn’t talk much. Plus, now he had to summon the same toad again to send his report in.  
  
Knowing when his efforts would be futile, he opened the scroll left to him. There were only two people alive who could ask the toads to do their bidding. One was him and the other was his wayward student, who was, hopefully, still in Uzu learning all he can.  
  
Upon opening the scroll, he found it was a chakra-activated storage scroll. There was not much for security purposes on the scroll since it didn’t seem like chakra-specific or required blood of the user or recipient. Then again, he’d needed to be there to give a chakra or blood sample to make such security feature on the seal.  
  
Quickly summoning out the stored items, he was greeted with 5 more scrolls, all in varying sizes. The smallest one had the word instructions written on the outside of the scroll. Quickly opening it, he found beautiful flowing script penning a letter addressed to him by his youngest apprentice.  
  
**Dear Ero-Sennin,**  
  
**It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I arrived at Uzushiogakure a week or two after we parted ways. It’s incredible here. I’m just sad that such a beautiful village had been left to rot like this. But to my utter surprise, other than the destroyed building because of the siege; everything looks perfectly intact. All over the citadel are preservation seals like no other. It’s like 40 years of Mother Nature’s natural wear and tear never happened. Well, aside from obvious elemental attacks from back the siege.**  
  
**I had to go around and gather up the bones of the dead, the preservation seals did well to affect that the bones didn’t crumble to dust yet. Though their bodies had no choice but to… uhm… decay and leave their bones behind. I thought it would be respectful of me to burn the remaining bones and gather what’s left to the Shrine here and entomb it there. It seems that the Iwa, Kiri and Kumo armies took their dead with them and didn’t have the humility to even give the dead their dues.**  
  
**I’m, frankly, quite angry. Is this how the shinobi world works, sensei? Is there really no respect left for each other if they’re from different villages? Then how come the Akatsuki are even able to tolerate each other? How are they working together so well? Do they have a grudge against us Jinchuuriki? It just blows my mind, sensei. It also saddens me a great deal, that criminals would be more unified than most of us. Is this the cycle of hatred you were talking about? Or is my interpretation different?**  
  
**Sorry, I got a bit carried away. And no, I didn’t want to rewrite the letter just to edit that part of the letter out. You’re my godfather, I trust you with my thoughts.**  
  
**But back on topic; I did it, Jiraiya-sensei! In the smaller black scroll, you’ll find that I’ve been certified as a Fuinjutsu Master! That exam scroll is an awesome piece of sealing! I mean, I did expect something similar but I thought I had to be supervised! Anyway, on the large orange scroll, you’ll find the seal that I got the Master title for. Once you open it, find the ring that acts as the water basin, and pour some water over it until it completes a circle. Don’t worry, the scroll cannot get wet and the seal is waterproofed as well. Oh! And before you do that, please make sure you apply chakra on the ‘power’ circle first.**  
  
**Go do that first before reading the rest of this letter, I promise it will be a good surprise.**  
  
Jiraiya was scratching his head at this point. He had already opened the small black scroll and indeed, a copy of Naruto’s Fuinjutsu mastery certification was there, along with the appropriate seals of authentication.  
  
As he had read the letter, he felt a pang of sadness for his student. It’s not every day that the scope of pain of a person one cares about broadens to encompass the world at large. And the pain of the cycle of hatred seems to have hit home with Naruto. Jiraiya once hoped that Minato was the Child of Prophesy or even Nagato, having the legendary Rin’negan. But recently, he thinks that it was Naruto, bumbling, adorable and overall wonderful Naruto, who could be the Child of the Prophesy. There was a sense of understanding of the world with the blond Jinchuuriki that he hadn’t encountered with almost everyone he’d met in his lifetime; including himself.  
  
Jiraiya sighed and didn’t want to waste more time and inserted a drop of chakra on the power node on the seal. Taking the kettle in his room, he poured some hot water on the ‘water’ node on the seal. Immediately, he could see the water completing a circle already transcribed on the seal. Once it was a full circle, he stopped pouring the water. The water spread out from the circle making a water mirror of sorts on the seal. Looking curiously at the water mirror, he saw some distortions and then the water tinged blue and some white. As if he was staring at the sky.  
  
Jiraiya blinked in confusion, surely his student wouldn’t make such a seal for just a sky looking water but then he reeled back when he saw his students face on the water.  
  
“Hey, sensei!” Naruto grinned at his godfather from the water.  
  
Jiraiya gaped for a few seconds.  
  
“Naruto… how is this possible?” This time, Jiraiya took the time to study the seal, which were all still visible to him. The power node, a sound node, and the water node; they were all pretty obvious from the start but he hadn’t quite made out the use of it. He then spotted elements of genjutsu, long range chakra sensor array, a sensor relay, and what looks like a deconstructed Yamanaka clan jutsu, shindenshin no jutsu, in seal form.  
  
Naruto hadn’t answered his master’s question and let Jiraiya figure out the seal himself, grinning all the while.  
  
“Naruto, is this… a long range communication seal?” Jiraiya asked, with slight wonder in his voice.  
  
Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically, his grin reaching his ears.  
  
Jiraiya had to sit back a bit and stare at his student and the seal he made. He knew, all those months ago, that the boy would take to fuinjutsu like fish to water. But this is, frankly, ridiculous. The boy had reached fuinjutsu mastery in a year and some months, surpassing majority of his peers age-wise and specialty level-wise. He was wondering if someone was writing a rather fantastic story of a Naruto who was over powered and he’s just trapped in it. (A/N: Well, you’re not wrong Jiraiya. You’re not wrong.)  
  
Shaking his head at the ludicrous notion and smiled blandly at his student. “Naruto, this is amazing. How did you even come up with this? I thought you’d actually use your personalized Hiraishin seal for your Fuinjutsu mastery? This is way out of the kunai fields, kid.” (A/N: Out of the ballpark.)  
  
Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. “Well, I would have but I didn’t want a remaster of the seal to be my fuinjutsu mastery accomplishment. So, after deconstructing both versions of the seal, I found elements of it that I could find better uses for. And this is one of the applications that I found for it.”  
  
Jiraiya nodded. “The long range chakra sensor array, then? It’s the very heart of both the Nidaime’s and Minato’s Flying Thunder God technique.” Jiraiya thought this was ingenious. As a spymaster, he appreciated how this would cut short many of the communication problems agents had on the field, especially if their shinobi was too far for the normal radio signals to communicate. Reconnaissance missions were especially vulnerable as information isn’t relayed back at times when they get caught or are too slow to report back. Some, like him, were lucky to have summoned creatures who were willing to be messengers but majority had to rely on small trained birds that sometimes don’t make it back.  
  
But the most important was field commands made by stationary headquarters didn’t need a Yamanaka to relay the orders. Though there can be drawbacks, he has to ask Naruto or see the jutsu notes on it.  
  
“This is excellent work, Naruto. But you said you have another use for the long range chakra sensor array, what do you have planned? Or what seal did you make?” Jiraiya asked, curious as to what his student was up to.  
  
As Naruto discussed the seal he was still formulating, and testing; Jiraiya felt numb. The potential of the seal that Naruto was creating, especially in a war of attrition or a…. a siege…  
  
“Was this… did you have the Siege on Uzushiogakure in mind when you decided to formulate that seal?” Jiraiya tentatively asked. The boy had never known he had a whole village of family before; Jiraiya felt that Naruto thinks he owes it to his clan to make sure such a massacre would never happen again.  
  
Naruto’s grin went down to a sad smile and nodded. And Jiraiya wished that he could hug his godson at that moment.  
  
“Naruto… good job.” Jiraiya smiled gently at his student.  
  
“Arigatou-gozaimasu, Jiraiya-sensei.”  
  
They talked a bit more before Naruto cut off the conversation and Jiraiya returned to reading the letter.  
  
**So, we’ve probably already talked through the Mirrored Water Seal by now. We probably talked a bit more about the seals I’m planning on making but I don’t know if I told you but I found a destroyed Fuinjutsu Grand Master examination room in Uzushiogakure. If I told you the other seal I’m making with the Hiraishin Jutsu on mind, then you’ll understand that I want to present that seal as my Grand Master achievement. I know that each shinobi village, there’s a constructed Grand Master exam room. I’ll take mine in Konoha once we get back and if I finish the seal. I hope that you are proud of me, kyofu. I might not act it but, it’s nice to know that there is an adult in my life whose duty is to my care and no one else’s.**  
  
**You know I don’t resent Jiji or Iruka-sensei but it’s nice to have a godfather.**  
  
**Whether I mentioned it to you or not, the scroll you have now is a secondary scroll with the mother seal with me. If you’re wondering if I can make multiple secondary scrolls and connecting it to one mother seal, then yes, I can. If you’d notice, there are additional characters and symbols on the seal that doesn’t seem to have any role on the overall seal, right? Those are the scroll identifiers, I have to select on the mother seal based on the position, symbol and character so that the mother seal can connect solely to your secondary scroll. In the same way, if a secondary seal were to contact the mother seal, the scroll identifier symbols will highlight itself so that one can trace which scroll is being used. Neat, right?**  
  
**I’ve included the jutsu notes and an unmarked mother seal on the second and larger black scroll. So that you’ll be able to customize your own mother Mirrored Water Seal and make your own secondary ones. If possible, can you send it back to Konoha so that our Seal Corps can start making it for our shinobi? And, if possible, to patent it so that if non-Konoha shinobi would use it; I’d at least get payed for it? Thanks.**  
  
**Oh, if I hadn’t told you, I’m travelling around the countries right now. We might meet at some point before we make our way back to Konoha. It seems that Uzushiogakure had bunkers and hideouts throughout the 5 Great Nations and all the other countries in between. I found a seal-laden map that told me which structures were still viable and which were destroyed. I’m visiting the bunkers to see if they’re being inhabited and if they are, either kick them out or lead them to Konoha. Most likely, the ones have anyone inside are likely intruders or Uzushiogakure survivors who never surfaced.**  
  
**The notes I found in the library about the bunkers were curious; to say the least. I need to check them out.**  
  
**Though, you don’t need to worry about me sensei. I’m still learning all I can with my personal scroll of seals you gifted to me. I’ve got at least 30 clones practicing jutsu at any point of time.**  
  
**I’ll see you back in the estate in Cha no Kuni 8 months before the 3 year mark. If you ever need to contact me, just send me a toad. We can talk using the seal.**  
  
**Until then,**  
  
**Your Apprentice,**  
  
**Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto**

* * *

 

After three years of being away from Konoha, a certain orange-wearing shinobi walked up to the gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The gate was being manned by none other than the Eternal Chuunin Duo, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo. Naruto was actually wearing his Chuunin vest, and he walked up to the pair presenting his Shinobi ID.  
  
The pair was blinking away the shock they experienced, seeing the formerly runty genin now an adolescent, muscled, and handsome chuunin was a bit too much for the senses.  
  
“Whoa, hey Naruto. Man, you sure grew up!” Kotetsu blurted out. Izumo just nodded, agreeing with his partner’s assessment. Naruto just laughed with a wide grin, stunning the duo. Jiraiya leisurely walked up behind his student. The old sannin chuckled at the duo and shook his head. “Naruto, stop dazzling the poor chuunin.”  
  
Naruto chuckled lowly, making the pair blush more before he leapt away with his papers and into the village.

* * *

 

Time Skip until just before Jiraiya's death

* * *

 

After the disaster of a mission of once more trying to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto decided it was time to take off the kid gloves. He had held back against Orochimaru and Kabuto at the bridge. He had held back in that fight against Deidara. Using Kurama’s chakra was a crutch but was also a way for everyone to underestimate him. The truth was, while he was not proficient in using Kurama’s chakra yet, he and the beast had an understanding.  
  
While travelling around the Elemental Nations and reading through the Uzushiogakure library, he found the truth behind the Bijuu and their creation. There were not many tribes or clans that descended from those that lived through the rampage of the goddess Kaguya who had fused with the Shinju. Even less were the ones that existed while the wars for the Shinju were still ongoing and still existing until today. But the Uzumaki clan was. His clan had lived through those obscured events of history. It wasn’t their prolonged lifespans or their incredible healing factors that gave them the title of the Village of Longevity, but the fact that their clan existed for far longer than any other in history.  
  
They both realized why it was important that the Akatsuki was not allowed to gather all of the bijuu, especially since Kurama had felt a stirring in the natural chakra permeating the air the last time he was free. Kurama felt the chakra of Uchiha Madara, someone he knew should’ve died naturally by then and the chakra of whom he hadn’t felt in millennia, Kaguya’s chakra. Something was up and both Jinchuuriki and bijuu realized that there was a larger plot at work.  
  
So Kurama agreed with Naruto that he would not actively try and free himself until the threat of the Akatsuki was eliminated. Still, Naruto couldn’t harness Kurama’s chakra safely after the 4th tail of power since it seems they were still missing a step so that they’ll be able to connect to each other more smoothly.  
  
On Naruto’s 15th birthday, his chakra coils had matured and his chakra capacity wouldn’t grow anymore so he was invited to Myobokuzan to train in the Frog Sage Arts. It took him a few months but he did it. Officially, he took the title of Principal Toad Summoner and was the new Toad Sage though he and his master hadn’t broadcasted this information yet, not even to Tsunade and their allies.  
  
But this costed Naruto greatly. He failed to bring back Sasuke, again, and he almost lost his Jinchuuriki brother, Gaara because he was still holding back.  
  
So on a clear summer’s day, Naruto walked up to the building which housed the Konoha Sealing and Barrier Corps.  
  
Walking up to their receptionist, who was busy reading a book on, what else, seals, Naruto cleared his throat. The girl looked up, bored, but that didn’t last long. She began hollering to the side door, calling out to the other seal practitioners in the building. The Jinchuuriki of the village with the most advanced and complex seal for containing bijuu as well as the rumored newest Fuinjutsu Master in their building? This was priceless.  
  
They could care less if the boy was the container, what they cared about was the seal he had on him. The other practitioners practically dogpiled out of the door and peered up at the amused blond.  
  
The receptionist looked at her fellow seal practitioners with a sad shake of her head. An older shinobi came out of the side door; he was wearing Konoha’s Jounin flak jacket and looked curiously at Naruto. The teen remembered this man as someone who tagged along his medical check-ups with the Sandaime.  
  
“Oh hey, I remember you! Though, I’m sorry I don’t recall your name.” Naruto scratched the back of his head as he looked at the higher ranked shinobi sheepishly. The Jounin grinned and stepped over his colleagues and held out his hand for Naruto to shake hands with. “I’m Kinomiya Takao, head of the Konoha Sealing Corps.” Naruto shook the blue-haired man’s hand. Naruto understood then that the man was always there to see his check-ups because he needed to check on the seal at the same time.  
  
“It’s nice to finally meet you officially.” Naruto grinned.  
  
“So, why are you here, Naruto-san?” Takao asked as he was curious since last he knew, it was now Jiraiya-sama’s job to check the seal and Tsunade would personally check on the boy if needed and she knew the seal enough to check it. Plus, if the records he received were to be believed, as a fellow Fuinjutsu Master there was little else that the boy would need from the sealing corps nowadays.  
  
Naruto didn’t answer as he passed a scroll to him. Opening it, Takao smiled knowingly as he saw it was an authenticated Fuinjutsu Mastery certificate. The other practitioners had their jaws on the floor, staring at the scroll. There were less than 20 known Fuinjutsu masters and Konoha was known to have the bulk of them. The bulk, meaning that there were 5 Fuinjutsu masters registered as affiliated to Konoha, now including Naruto. Takao himself was one of the higher tiered Fuinjutsu masters in Konoha, on par with Jiraiya. The Barrier Corps head, Hiwatari Kai, was another Sealing master as well as Homura Mitokado of the Konoha Elders; both of whom were mid-tier Seal Masters.  
  
Though, what stunned Takao and the other seal practitioners was that the certificate states that the boy was the same tier of mastery as him and Jiraiya; the highest achievable Fuinjutsu Master tier before they can try the Grandmaster exams. Jiraiya and he both failed their Grandmaster exams, and while it was disappointing that they did not manage to achieve the title, they were humbled by it. The rigors, knowledge and ingenuity needed for the grandmaster title was insane and all those before them who had achieved the titles were just as insane, it seems. He’d heard that Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were scheduled to take the exam months after the Kyuubi attack but due to the events that happened that night, it never happened.  
  
Takao let out an impressed whistle and handed back the certificate. “Congratulations on getting the title and rank, Sealmaster Namikaze-Uzumaki.” The other practitioners hurried to give a low bow to the newly announced sealmaster.  
  
“I’m glad that you took up your heritage, Naruto-san. So, what can we do for you, here in our humble headquarters?” Takao grinned. He couldn’t wait to tell his husband, Kai about this. The stoic non-native would flip.  
  
“Well, I was hoping to schedule my Grand Master exams as soon as possible.”  
  
The atmosphere suddenly dropped from jovial to shock, as they stared at the young sealmaster. “Naruto, while we commend your enthusiasm to get the Grand Seal Master title as soon as possible, your certificate states that you took and passed your sealmaster’s exam just last year! You can only take the Grand Seal Master exam once. No matter if you go to another village to take the exam, the seals inscribed in the examination room records all those who attempt it!” The receptionist, a brunette explained in a shocked tone.  
  
Takao didn’t know if he wanted to whack the boy’s head with his sheathed katana or boot him out of the building to think on his decision.  
  
“Young man, I understand that you may be living the high of having the seal mastery so early in your life but I urge you to learn more before attempting the Grand Mastery.” Takao was totally serious, unlike his usual jovial demeanor.  
  
Naruto grinned, as was usual with him and shook his head. “Sealmaster Kinomiya, I understand and acknowledge your concern but please, understand that I’ve been working on my Grand Mastery exam since before I got my Seal Master’s title. You have to trust me that I know what I’m doing.”  
  
The seal practitioners of Konoha looked to each other resignedly. The boy would, of course, retain his sealmaster title but he can never try and prove his worth ever again as a grand seal master if he was rushing into this. But they also knew, from personal experience and rumors about the boy that he was more stubborn than even a mule.  
  
They just sighed and nodded. “Alright, we can schedule your exam for tomorrow if you’re up to it. The next time we aren’t as busy would be in a month, Naruto-kun.” The receptionist smiled at the Jinchuuriki.  
  
“Perfect, I’ll do it tomorrow. Anything I need to bring with me?” The blond smiled widely, excited.  
  
“You’ll need snacks and drinks. The exam room is set to trap you inside it for nine hours, though you’re set to do your own pace once you’re inside. The nine hours allotted are more for the seal work you’ll have to do in there, so no pre-prepared seals are allowed. The room itself is encased in a Jikuukan fuin, so you don’t have to worry about space being a problem. You’ll have an entire continent available to you in there if you so choose or need.” Takao remembered when he took the exam; it was exhausting even with the food he brought with him. Even when he’d perfectly inscribed the seal he wanted as his grand mastery achievement, it wasn’t enough. So he was trapped there waiting for the nine hours to be over, no matter how hard he tried to open the door.  
  
Naruto nodded, he expected it of course. He’d seen the grand mastery examination room in Uzushiogakure.  
  
Bright and early the next day, the whole sealing corps’ available personnel were in the building, while the building was sealed off just in case something went wrong. The barrier corps was also there, providing support to the seal corps with the barrier now in place. Iruka was there as one of their better barrier jutsu experts. He was surprised with Naruto’s appearance and the explanation that he was a Fuinjutsu master already, astounded him.  
  
Iruka had a teary smile on his face as he hugged his favorite former student. “Naruto, I’m so, so, so very proud of you.”  
  
The blond grinned, teary-eyed and hugged his beloved teacher back. “And I’m going to make you even more proud, Iruka-sensei. Watch me become the first Grand Seal Master of Konoha since Uzumaki Mito.”  
  
There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in Naruto’s voice and that made the Sealing and Barrier Corps members believe in the blond teen.  
  
With a last grin directed towards his fellow Konoha shinobi, Naruto went in the examination room. Soon after, the door locked itself and sealing scripture wrote itself on the wall and a blue-colored barrier seemed to entrap the door.  
  
Takao sat with his significant other, Kai, a dual haired man with foreign aristocratic features. Their former genin teammates were with them as well, all of them either in the sealing corps or barrier corps. Kai, Hirari and Manabu (more commonly known as Chief) already knew about Naruto and his high-tiered Seal Master rank. This, of course, surprised their friends Max and Rei since they were last to know.  
  
“Takao-kun, Hirari-chan, Chiiiieeeeeef!!! You should’ve told us yesterday!!!” Max had always been a bit childish, even when they all grew up to be successful shinobi. Max’s husband shook his head with a tired grin. “They always do this to us, Maxie. Haven’t you gotten used to it yet?” Rei smirked as he hugged the waist of his loved one, his sharp canines showing.  
  
Hirari, who was the receptionist for the Sealing Corps, just grinned and nudged Chief with a wink. “We weren’t trying to hide it, you would’ve found out sooner or later!”  
  
Chief who had already strayed away from his friends was analyzing the seals on the wall. “Amazing, this kind of seal work is just astounding. I wish I could do seal work like this but I deconstruct seals rather than creating them. Can’t really get my seal mastery by decoding a masterwork seal, now can I?” (1)  
  
Takao and his friends were trapped in their own little bubble, waiting for Naruto to come out. Nine hours was a pretty long wait with nothing to do, after all.  
  
Iruka joined in the Sealing and Barrier Corps in their attempt to pass the time while waiting for Naruto to finish his grand mastery exam. There had not been a successful exam since before Uzumaki Mito died. The last few Fuinjutsu Grandmasters were all from the Uzumaki clan; the art had fallen out of favor for the majority of the shinobi world.  
  
It was on the 4 hour mark when the seals on the wall started to react, seemingly retreating where it first emerged from. The barrier dropped and so did most of the shinobi’s jaw in the room.  
  
“B-but, how?!” Mao, a pink-haired seal practitioner exclaimed. “The room is supposed to stay locked for 9 hours! Did he make a seal that opened the sealed room or something?!”  
  
Everyone waited with bated breath as the barrier on the door dropped and the door slowly opened.  
  
On that day, history was fate rewritten as Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto became the first Fuinjutsu Grandmaster in more than half a century.

* * *

 

His beloved godfather was dead. And he cannot be more thankful that his treasured Iruka-sensei and his almost-step-brother Kakashi-sensei both lived after Pein’s attack on Konoha.  
  
He had left Konohagakure almost unprotected as he went back to Myobokuzan, finally allowed to have the key to the Shiki Fuin Seal. The one seal key he couldn’t recreate because he was the jailor. Upon receiving the key, he had to train into combing Senjutsu and using Kurama’s chakra. It was training worth a thousand gold leaves but it was not without sacrifice.  
  
Akatsuki’s founders, Pein also known as Uzumaki Nagato and his partner, Konan attacked Konoha and levelled majority of the village not only into the ground but a large crater was left in the wake of their attack. Naruto was able to, in the end, convince his fellow apprentice that he would shoulder the world’s hatred and stop its cycle. And he’s ever so thankful for Nagato, for he revived all that he had killed. When he’d first heard that Kakashi-sense was one of the newly revived by Nagato, he was near catatonic to his friends.  
  
His godfather just died recently and his supposed to be step-brother and genin teacher died in that attack, suffice to say that his and Kakashi’s relationship only grew deeper.  
  
One upside to the invasion of Konoha was that they were able to keep civilian casualty to almost none. Aside from those that were hit by the first wave of the attack, the civilian sector of the village, including non-ninja personnel of all clans were evacuated in time with the use of Naruto’s sealing grand mastery achievement.  
  
A Mass Human Teleportation Seal.  
  
While there were some known to be able to transport objects with great distance with a jutsu called Ethereal Transmission jutsu, limited to a bloodline in Kumo; Naruto went a step further.  
  
His father was known to have mastered the Flying Thunder God technique created by the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama. While Naruto was able to make his personal Hiraishin seal, he saw further potential in expanding the technique. Upon researching about the Ethereal Transmission Jutsu, Naruto started on his original seal on making a more useful seal out of the jutsu and Hiraishin. What he had accomplished was far more than he had expected.  
  
Using a deconstructed bloodline limit jutsu as a base in seal form, he modified the stabilization components of the Hiraishin to allow for extreme speed transportation, the long range chakra sensor array and adding components as he went. The seal was as large as a house; an array size he’d only found once or twice in his sealing studies and it was worth presenting as his Sealing grand mastery achievement.  
  
Though he had only managed to complete the seal after training on what is now an essential technique in his battling style, Senjutsu.  
  
Upon realizing the potential of Nature Chakra in large or powerful sealing arrays, Naruto tested again and again on how to translate Nature Chakra into sealing. He was able to do so a month or so before their return to Konoha.  
  
Naruto hypothesized that while people like him who had enormous chakra capacities, could easily use his Mass Human Transportation Seal without consequences, most people would die in just sending just one person with just the chakra requirement. So with the seal he had created that translated Senjutsu into seal form, Nature chakra would power the seal. Human chakra was still needed to activate the seal and control the direction and destination of the transport. Now one would only need a drop of chakra to activate the seal and to ensure security of the seal, a blood security seal was implemented.  
  
Using some very brave volunteer toads, he tested out the technique and what happened was a moment of victory to the then young sealmaster.  
  
So using the seals that had been set up and strategically hidden in the village and operated by the sealing corps members, civilians had already been instructed to go to these particular shelters and houses if an emergency were to happen once more. Each seal was connected to the many Uzumaki Bunkers around the Elemental Nations and majority of the civilian populace of Konohagakure, academy students and younger genin teams were sent there.  
  
This helped a lot with his reputation in the village, cementing his place as Konoha’s Best Seal Master once it was known that the Mass Human Teleportation Seal was his original creation. It also finally made the villagers see Naruto for who he was, a kind-hearted, powerful and intelligent boy that they had tried to snuff out early on in his life, especially after hearing Katsuyu-sama recount the interaction between the two Uzumaki. To be frank, the village as a whole could not be more ashamed of itself. But they vowed to make it up to the boy.  
  
So many things happened in such a short amount of time after Pein’s attack on Konoha, including the termination of Konoha’s darkest flame, Shimura Danzo.

* * *

 

Now, Tsunade was on her way to Kumogakure to fix any rifts that Danzo created in the last Gokage summit in the Gokage War Summit to be held in a few days. Tsunade had been sending out order after order to the shinobi of Konoha to establish all their supply routes and to get information from the surrounding cities, villages and their allies. The upcoming war was nothing like they’d ever encountered before since seven of the nine bijuu were on the opposing side of the Allied Shinobi Forces.  
  
Tsunade was looking over some paperwork when someone knocked on the door of her temporary office. Looking up, she called out for them to enter.  
  
It was Naruto who entered. Tsunade had a ready fond smile for the boy that she saw as her little brother. “Hello Naruto, what can I do for you?”  
  
Naruto smiled a sad one and reached out to hand over a scroll that he pulled out of his fanny pack. His chuunin vest on top of his black and orange jacket, something he hadn’t been wearing since he got back to the village. “With all that had happened, I don’t think you’ve been informed of… this, yet.” Naruto gestured with his hand holding the offered scroll.  
  
Tsunade looked curious and took the scroll and quickly unraveled it, she had to hold in her gasp of shock because she had no idea that Naruto already reached the Grand Mastery title for fuinjutsu. She had received the various reports by her shinobi that Naruto had used the Flying Thunder god technique in both the battle against Pein and in the skirmish with the remaining Akatsuki members whom attacked the Gokage Summit but this was something else. The last Fuinjutsu Grandmaster was one of her Uzumaki cousins who had died in the Uzushiogakure siege. Now, the last known Royal Uzumaki, her little Naruto was the newest Sealing Grand Master.  
  
. While she was aware of his Fuinjutsu Seal Master rank, she wasn’t notified that she was the employer of a Grand Sealmaster. No doubt that most people only thought that Sealmaster was the highest rank achievable for the art, but it wasn’t. She should’ve known better when she implemented the Mass Human Teleportation Seals suggested by the Sealing and Barrier Corps. Plus the fact that a Grand Seal Master is so rare that they’re usually included into a Kage’s Council alongside the Genin, Chuunin, Jounin and ANBU commanders and other department heads. Takao Kinomiya was her liaison to the Sealing Corps but Naruto now automatically replaces Takao just because of his rank.  
  
Tsunade quickly rounded her table and hugged Naruto tightly. Naruto buried his head on the crook of her shoulder, and Tsunade cooed soothingly to him as she felt fresh hot tears drip on her shoulder. They stayed like that for a while before Naruto let go, his eyes red with a sad smile. Tsunade ruffled his hair and kissed the younger blonde’s forehead.  
  
“Jiraiya would’ve been so proud, Naruto. You can’t even start to understand how happy he sounded in all his letters to us about your progress as his student. Not even with your father was he so enthusiastic about teaching.” The Hokage smiled wistfully as she thought of her teammate.  
  
Naruto nodded and smiled back. “I might have an idea.” Naruto sighed as he sat on the chair facing the Hokage’s desk. Tsunade, feeling the seriousness of the situation sat on her chair and steepled her hands. “Tsunade-sama,” Naruto started. Her back straightened at his tone, she’d never heard him with this tone before.  
  
“As the highest authority on Fuinjutsu in the land, as well as the accomplishments that my Grand Mastery Seal had done for the village, I hope that you trust me enough to hear me out about this upcoming war. I know it was irresponsible for me and Sealmaster Kinomiya to not have informed you of my new ranking but we both felt I wasn’t ready to take on council work yet. But now, I am. As part of your council, no matter unofficially yet, as well as one of the targets of the upcoming war and again, I state and emphasize, officially highest authority on Fuinjutsu, I beg you to take me to the War Council Gokage Summit in Kumogakure.” Naruto paused and took a large breath in.  
  
“Baa-chan, I know I still seem like a brat right now, but maybe I can help?” Naruto looked hopeful and Tsunade felt that for once she and bet on Naruto and she’ll win.

* * *

 

So it was in Kumogakure’s Raikage Tower and war room that Tsunade found herself discussing the upcoming war alongside her fellow Kage. They were surprised and curious as to why she brought along Naruto but she asked them to wait on the explanation.  
  
As the Kage were discussing important locations of the war, Naruto had decided to voice out his opinion. Already, all the nations knew that the battleground would be in the lands bordering Iwa and Hi no Kuni; the traditional war grounds of which the countries of Grass, Rain, Rivers, Swamps and the edge of Wind Country. Information was already pouring in that many of the smaller countries were staying out of the next Great Shinobi War and that the denizens of the war grounds have been driven off by unprovoked attacks form the supposed Uchiha Madara and Zetsu. Right now, they were discussing the location of the Headquarters of the Allied Shinobi Forces and where their Daimyos would be hidden.  
  
Tension was rising as they couldn’t agree where they would hide their country’s royalty and the location of the headquarters. Before jutsu started flying off, Naruto coughed loud enough for everyone to hear, stopping them from attacking each other.  
  
“I may have a suggestion, if you’d hear me out?” Naruto stared at Tsunade, hoping she would convince them to listen to him.  
  
The Tsuchikage, Oonoki the Fence Sitter, the Kage of the thousand men that the butcher of Iwa, Namikaze Minato, slaughtered scoffed at Naruto speaking up. You could say that Oonoki had a grudge against Minato and had already guessed that the blond jinchuuriki was the spawn of his most hated adversary. “And what can you even suggest brat? You’re not even supposed to be here, you’re the target of the enemy! What use is a war meeting like this if the person we’re trying to keep away from the enemy knows all our plans, huh?! If my sources are right, this boy’s a certified idiot who’d rather charge into battle than think of the bigger picture.”  
  
Gaara’s eyes conveyed his anger as his fists clenched on top of the table. “Watch what you say, Tsuchikage-dono. Naruto is more than what your sources say.” While the former Jinchuuriki’s voice was calm, there was an underlying fury that followed his words.  
  
Terumi Mei looked on at her fellow Kage, as the newest instated Kage, while her words an opinion had weight with other shinobi but with her fellow Kage had to dissected and thought over more cautiously. She chose not to comment and instead stared at Naruto, trying to get a read on the boy whom she’d heard had a hand on the end of Momochi Zabuza and the last of the Yuki clan. She would rather listen to the boy as she felt that there might be something worth hearing.  
  
A, the Raikage had a severe frown on his face. In Kumogakure, they treated their Jinchuuriki with the honor they deserved; much like how both Nii Yugito and his brother, Killer Bee were treated with respect, so he’d rather listen to the boy if he had something to say.  
  
Tsunade, on the other hand, had to massage her temple and sighed loudly. She knew that the biggest problem would be from Oonoki since Naruto looked so much like his father. But she truly wanted to hear Naruto’s suggestion; while she wasn’t informed of why Naruto wanted to be there for the meeting, she trusted him. “Please, Tsuchikage-dono. I understand that you may doubt my shinobi based on past information but I assure you that what he says may be able to help.”  
  
With her words even Gaara looked a bit skeptical. Gaara thought that maybe Naruto was going to say something nonsensical and disperse the tension easier but it seems that Tsunade truly believed that whatever Naruto was going to suggest was worth listening to. Not that he doubts his friend’s words but experience alone tells him that Naruto really wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box. (2)  
  
Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch at the obvious doubt that almost everyone displayed in the room, only Tsunade seemed sincere in her belief in him. Heaving a great sigh, Naruto stepped forward and slowly, as if not to frighten a cornered animal, summoned a large map he kept in storage seal on his arm. Laying it out for everyone to see, overlapping map embedded into the table, it showed points of interest that wasn’t on the other map.  
  
“And what are these, Uzumaki-san?” Mei asked as she saw that the points on the map were everywhere in the elemental nations, some were even deep into the territories of every country. Naruto smirked and pointed to one of the map points and confidently started speaking.  
  
“The points you see on this map are what is called as Uzumaki Bunkers.” Doing a few hand signs he touched the map again and some points on the map glowed brightly, including the one nearest to Kumogakure. In fact, it looked as if that Bunker was only a few kilometers away from Kumogakure. A felt his blood boil, “What do you mean Uzumaki Bunkers?! That one” A pointed out, “is practically within Kumogakure’s borders! Have you been spying that close to us, Tsunade?!” The Raikage raged at Tsunade, thinking that these bunkers were made by Naruto. It didn’t help that Mei and Oonoki started making a fuss as well that some of the Uzumaki Bunkers were so close to their villages as well. Even Gaara looked a tad apprehensive seeing the points in the map.  
  
“Wait, Kage-sama-tachi. Please listen and calm down, I’ll explain.” Naruto said hurriedly as he tried to stop the escalating conflict. “These bunkers were built even before the formation of the Hidden Villages.” Naruto blurted out and this gave pause to everyone, even Tsunade. Even if she descended from the Uzumaki from her grandmother’s side, she hadn’t known about the Uzumaki Bunkers. All she knew was that Naruto had transported her civilian villagers, non-shinobi clan personnel and the village children to said Bunkers in the raid on Konoha.  
  
“These Uzumaki Bunkers had been established in the Warring Clans era, when my clan was still nomadic.” The Kages looked at each other and all wore curious expressions. “And how come we’ve never encountered these bunkers then? I’ve been to the lands surrounding some of these so-called bunkers but I’ve never seen any structures that look like a stronghold. I may be old but I know the land, boy. Don’t lie to us!” Oonoki grounded out, annoyed still.  
  
“That’s because all of these bunkers are underground and protected by seals. The glowing points on the map are all viable bunkers with all the seals intact and the bunker in safe conditions. In fact, the sealing on each of the bunkers are so complicated that the food items stored there for hundreds of years ago can still be eaten! I’ve been to these bunkers myself and checked everything out. Uh….” Naruto had to give pause as he discreetly stared at the Kage who had all tick marks on their foreheads, a foreign shinobi in their land without their knowledge, it was highly irritating. “Please trust me that I didn’t do any spying on your people or anything. I just went to the Bunkers themselves to find if I still had relatives in hiding.”  
  
This statement made the mood fall a bit somber around the blond; Oonoki had to grimace since it was under his orders as a newly instated Tsuchikage that the Siege on Uzushiogakure happened with partnership with Kumo’s Nidaime Raikage and Kiri’s Nidaime Mizukage. The talent of the Uzumaki for seals were fearsome and they felt justified to wipe out or at least raid the Village of Longevity to steal their secrets. Tsunade cleared her throat trying to move along the conversation.  
  
“Right,” Naruto started once more. “The Bunkers that are still viable right now were made at the latter part of the Warring Clans era while those that are not were made in the Nomadic era. (3) By the latter years of the Warring Clans era, most had been made aware of the forces of Nature we now call the Nine Tailed Beasts; this includes my clan. As the foremost sealing practitioners of their time, their Fuinjutsu Grandmasters created a seal so powerful it could withstand five times the power of the Kyuubi’s full-powered bijuudama.”  
  
It was with this revelation that the war council continued on, and each of Naruto’s suggestion taken as its worth his weight in salt.  
  
As the Allied Shinobi Forces stared in shock at the utterly humongous explosions, miles from their position; they felt a creeping sensation of despair. But it didn’t last long as a strong voice resounded in their minds, “Commence Operation in 5 minutes!” Shikaku’s mental voice reverberated in their skulls as they shook off their shock. Quickly, all the shinobi leapt into action for their next strategy to bring down the behemoth known as the Juubi.  
  
As everyone was scrambling to position, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji took the time to pass by Naruto. Shikamaru sent a grateful smile to Naruto, who reciprocated. “Thanks, Naruto.” Ino took the time to give a quick hug to Naruto before following her team mate while Chouji gave a quick pat on Naruto’s back. Sakura smiled widely as she treated those around them, Naruto taking time to rest up a bit and to assimilate the next strategy. “You did good, Naruto. You did good.” Sakura said in a quiet voice. Kakashi offered Naruto one of his eye smiles. “We can’t be prouder of your achievements, Naruto. Well done.” Kakashi offered his praise.  
  
“Your fires of Youth have illuminated the way for all of us, Naruto-kun! Truly a job well done!” Gai said aloud but didn’t shout it, as this was one advantage they didn’t want to waste yet.  
  
For the Uzumaki Bunker that contained the Allied Shinobi Force Headquarters survived a truly powerful and massive bijuudama attack; and the brilliant mind of Shikaku, combined with his son’s tactical presence in the battlefield will carry them through, somehow.

**Author's Note:**

> (1) I couldn’t resist. I needed either previously unknown characters or OC’s. But since I just love adding or referencing characters form other fandoms, I added these guys. Virtual cookie to those that know what fandom they’re from.
> 
> (2) No matter that Gaara adores Naruto; even he knows that Naruto wasn’t that intelligent. In the same time, he doesn’t know Naruto’s accomplishments yet.
> 
> (3) The era after the rampage of Shinju/Kaguya and before the Warring Clans era. Because these people couldn’t have established their clan footholds without journeying around first.
> 
> (4) I theorize that when Otsusuki Hagoromo split the Juubi into the Nine Tailed Beasts, he didn't equally divide their powers. As such that Kurama, if not split because of the seal, is twice more powerful than Gyuuki. Shukaku had disparaged about their tails and I think that comes from an inferiority complex due to his more powerful siblings. While my math isn't solid I think Juubi's chakra capacity as a chakra beast is at least 6 times the Kyuubi's chakra capacity, it doesn't mean that its attack is as strong. With consideration of conservation of energy so as not to immediately deplete its chakra in its attacks, much like normal how regular shinobi tries not to put all their chakra in one attack, thus leaving them vulnerable afterwards.
> 
> And much like how some ninjutsu, while flashy, large and requires a ton of chakra output, doesn't mean that it’s at its most powerful because the shinobi still tries to preserve their chakra reserve unless its a suicide move. In which case all their chakra may be used and give a new dimension of power to an already powerful attack. Hence, a bijuudama of Kyuubi at full power (which means no holds barred fully depleting his chakra stores temporarily) can probably wipe out Konoha much like how Nagato had done. So by that loose calculation, I hypothesize that the tear-shaped bijuudama that the Juubi kept firing is only 3x times the power of Kyuubi's no-holds barred bijuudama. I hope I was able to explain this.


End file.
